The present invention generally relates to personal vehicles including self-propelled stand-on personal vehicles. Numerous personal vehicles are known within the art. These may include bicycles, rollerblades, skateboards and the like. Stand-on transportation devices are also known within the art. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,229 issued to Hosoda, discloses a stand-on transportation device with shafts to which the front wheel and the rear wheel are assembled and the frame connects these shafts. The rider is support by a footboard along the frame.
Also, known within the art are foot driven vehicles. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,079,727 issued to Fan discloses a foot driven vehicle. The ""727 patent discloses the use of a foot pedal along a frame portion and connected to a crank. However, the ""727 patent and similar devices do not provide stability at higher speeds. Cranking the foot pedal while traveling at high speeds and remaining stable would be difficult and dangerous, with the passenger risking falling off and injury.
Another foot driven vehicle is U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,014, issued to Huang. The ""014 patent discloses a scooter with a ratchet mechanism for driving the rear wheel of the scooter, a stepping lever for transferring the stepping force of the rider to the ratchet mechanism and a retrieving means for raising the stepping lever as the stepping force is released. In this way the scooter can be propelled by the intermittent stepping force of the rider to advance forwardly. However, such a system is unstable at higher speeds. Also, it is difficult to coast and step on the lever at the same time. This results in the need to remove your foot from the lever, which can be unstable and cause the passenger to slow.
Also known within the art is The Wheelman. The Wheelman is a complicated, cumbersome, heavy, large, and expensive motorized personal vehicle. Because of the motorized nature of The Wheelman, it is loud, not safe for younger children, produces emissions, and is cost prohibitive.
Another disadvantage of the prior art, is the inability to mimic surfing and snowboarding. All previous devices have tried to mimic the surfing and snowboarding feel on land but are merely skateboards with somewhat of a surfing or snowboarding feel. In both snowboarding and surfing the riders feet are on the board at all times. None of these previous devices have allowed a rider to keep both feet on the device during propulsion, while retaining rider control and the feel of snowboarding or surfing.
Accordingly, what is needed is a stable, easy to turn device that may be human powered, remain stable at higher speeds and allow the rider to keep both feet on the device while providing a drive mechanism.
One aspect of the present invention is a personal vehicle for carrying a passenger, with a frame and at least two wheels rotatably attached to the frame. At least one wheel may have a foot support in a center portion of the wheel. There may also be a drive mechanism, so as to allow a passenger to have their foot on the foot support, yet provide power such as to rotate at least one of the wheels of the vehicle.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a personal vehicle for carrying a passenger is disclosed comprised of a frame and at least two wheels wherein at least one of the wheels is a hubless wheel comprised of a rotationally stationary inner rim, an outer rim and at least two bearings. The inner rim may be in communication with the frame. The outer rim may have an outside surface and a bearing engaging surface in communication at least two bearings. There may also be at least one foot support in a center portion of the hubless wheel.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, a personal vehicle for carrying a passenger is disclosed comprising a frame, a first wheel, a first foot support, a second wheel, and a second foot support. The first wheel may be comprised of a rotationally stationary inner rim, a rotatable outer rim and at least two bearings. The inner rim may be in communication with the frame. The outer rim may have an outside surface and a bearing engaging surface in communication with at least two bearings. The first foot support may be in a center portion of the first wheel and in communication with the inner rim of the first wheel. The first wheel may have a horizontal axis. The first foot support may have a centerline substantially perpendicular to this horizontal axis. There may also be a second wheel with at least two bearings, a rotationally stationary inner rim and a rotatable outer rim with a bearing engaging surface and an outside surface. The inner rim may be in communication with the frame. At least two bearings may be in communication with the bearing engaging surface of the second wheel. A second foot support may be in a center portion of the second wheel and in communication with the inner rim of the second wheel. The second wheel having a horizontal axis and the second foot support having a centerline substantially perpendicular to the horizontal axis. A drive mechanism comprised of a lever, a spring device, and at least one gear may cause the vehicle to move in a forward or backward motion. The lever may be substantially horizontal and move in an up and down motion. The spring device may effectuate substantially linear movement of the lever. Alternatively, the spring device may effectuate substantially linear movement of a support, which in turn moves the lever. At least one gear translates and amplifies the linear movement of the lever, to provide rotational force. This rotational force may be utilized to turn another gear, or turn at least one wheel.
According to yet another embodiment, a personal vehicle for carrying a passenger is disclosed comprising a frame, a first wheel, a first foot support, a second wheel, a second foot support, and a human powered drive mechanism. The first wheel may have a horizontal axis and be comprised of a rotationally stationary inner rim, a rotatable outer rim and at least two bearings. The inner rim may be in communication with the frame. The rotatable outer rim may have an outside surface and a bearing engaging surface, wherein the bearing engaging surface may be in communication with at least two bearings. The first foot support may be in a center portion of the first wheel and have a centerline and a lateral axis. The lateral axis being at an angle between 0 and 45 degrees from the horizontal axis of the first wheel and the centerline being substantially perpendicular to the horizontal axis of the first wheel. The second wheel may have a horizontal axis and be comprised of a rotationally stationary inner rim, a rotatable outer rim and at least two bearings. The inner rim is in communication with the frame. The rotatable outer rim having an outside surface and a bearing engaging surface in communication with at least two bearings. A second foot support may be in a center portion of the second wheel and have a centerline and a lateral axis. The second foot support may move so that lateral axis moves at an angle relative to the horizontal axis of the second wheel between 0 and 80 degrees. The centerline of the second foot support may be substantially perpendicular to the horizontal axis of the second wheel. The human powered drive mechanism comprised of a lever, a spring device, an engagement slip, a first gear, a second gear and a protruding gear. The lever may be substantially parallel to a horizontal axis of the second wheel and in communication with a second foot support. The spring device may be in communication with the second support. The engagement slip may be in communication with the lever. The first gear may be in rotating communication with the engagement slip. The second gear may be in communication with the first gear and a protruding gear. The protruding gear being fixedly attached to the inner rim of the second wheel.
According to still yet another embodiment, a method of providing a stable, easy to turn personal vehicle is disclosed. This method includes the steps of coupling an inner rim of a hubless wheel to a frame, wherein the hubless wheel has a center portion; providing a movable foot support in a center portion of a hubless wheel, which may move in a stepping motion; providing a lever in communication with the movable foot support to translate stepping motion into a rotational force; providing a first gear in communication with the lever to translate and amplify rotational force; and providing a protruding gear to translate rotational force and turn the hubless wheel. A number of different gears may be utilized to amplify and translate rotational force.